A/N: Just so you know, my goal is to post one chapter a week, and also, thank you for your comments! They are much appreciated!

Chapter 2

Cristina was certain that she had made the right choice.

Yes, she had spent less than 10 minutes in the baby boutique, but she was sure Meredith would like what she picked out. Cristina walked toward the hospital as fast as she could without running. Meredith and the baby were being discharged this morning and she wanted to be sure to give them the gift before they left. It was a long haul out to their house in the woods, and she didn't know when she'd have time to go out there.

As she strode through the hospital, she noted that there were hardly any signs of the storm left. Outside in the parking lot, there was a large scorch from the bus explosion, and inside the only evidence left was a few flashlights sitting around in odd places.

She rode the elevator up to the maternity ward and bolted out of it picking up the same brisk pace that had brought her that far, but when she turned the corner to where Meredith's room was she stopped so fast she nearly fell over. Owen. She ducked back around the corner. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then peeked around the corner. Owen was standing just inside the doorway with Meredith's baby cradled in his arms. She was looking at his profile. He and Derek, who was standing with him, were both chuckling and grinning like idiots. Just beyond them, she could see Meredith sitting on the bed rolling her eyes, clearly not amused.

Cristina watched Owen. When he was done chuckling, he stared down at the baby in his arms and started to slowly sway back and forth. She had just started to feel a lump forming in her throat, when she noticed Meredith glancing at her. Cristina stepped back behind the wall, then stuck her hand back around the corner and waved it a couple of times. She knew Meredith would understand. Cristina took her bag with the baby gift in it and walked down a flight of stairs to the attending's lounge. She was relieved to find it empty. She unceremoniously plopped down on the couch, letting the bag fall out of her hand onto the floor. She leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

It had been four days. Four days since she had walked out of that on-call room and not looked back. Four days since he had called out to her, but hadn't followed. She didn't know what to feel. The last four days had been a blur with Meredith and the baby being there on top of Dr. Webber barely clinging to life. The entire staff let out a collective sigh of relief when he had made a turn for the better the night before. Cristina was sure that the only reason Meredith had agreed to be discharged was because he was out of the woods.

Cristina had spoken to Owen a couple of times, but only in a professional context. He was always careful to avoid making eye contact with her. She had made the right decision. She was sure of it. Not that she felt like she had much choice. As much as he said he wanted her, he couldn't deny that she wasn't enough for him. She couldn't deny how much that hurt, even though she had been expecting for a while that was the case.

But all that was beside the point. She wanted him to be happy- completely happy and content. They had different visions of what they wanted their lives to be like, and she couldn't stand in the way of him seeing his come to fruition.

Cristina felt her phone vibrate. She had a text from Meredith that said, "They're gone."

A few minutes later, Cristina walked into Meredith's room and unceremoniously plopped down on her chair, letting her the bag with her gift in it fall out of her hand onto the floor. She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "There's your gift."

Meredith, who was sitting on her bed changing Zachary's diaper, raised one of her eyebrows. "Umm, thanks?"

"Oh, sorry," Cristina said. She stood up and dumped the contents of the bag on to the bed, then sat back down.

Meredith looked at the pile of black cloth that was next to her baby, then looked at Cristina. "Little help?"

Cristina stared back at her. "It's a sling...thing. To carry the baby around in. So your hands are free." She waved her arms around to demonstrate.

"Are you sure that's what it is?"

"Yes!" Cristina said. "Oh! Wait!" She reached into the bag and pulled out several pieces of paper stapled together. "Instructions!" she said as she tossed them onto the bed. "Oh, and there's also a onesie somewhere in there with a 'Z' and a zebra on it." She was relieved they had decided after all to make "Bailey" the baby's middle name. She had told Meredith she didn't want to have to think twice when she got a message from her saying, "Bailey when poo-poo in the potty!" Zachary was a better first name and Cristina was already almost over the cutesiness if both kids' names starting with 'Z.' Almost...

Meredith stuck the last tab on Zach's diaper, then sifted through the pile of cloth until she found the onesie. She held it up to examine it. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome. That sling thing is top-of-the-line, I promise. I did research."

"Okay," Meredith said, leaning back to rest against the pillows. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Cristina replied crisply.

"Okay..." After a silence that seemed to last an eternity, Cristina finally spoke.

"So, uh, what, um, was so funny earlier?" she asked doing her best to ooze nonchalance.

"What, when the guys were in here?"

"Yeah."

Meredith groaned, and shook her head. "Let's just say that the topic of circumcision never fails to turn grown men into five-year-olds."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to know."

"Don't worry, it's not worth repeating."

"I can do that for you, by the way."

"Do what?" Meredith asked.

"The circumcision. I've seen a ton of them done and you know I've got steady hands."

"What- What?" Meredith stammered.

"I grew up Jewish, I've been to many a bris."

"And your parents let you watch the procedure?"

"Sure! Well, Saul did anyway. Until my mom got wise to it and made him stop."

"Why would he even let you watch in the first place?"

"He didn't exactly let me the first time, but I thought it was awesome and once he realized my fascination was scientific and not Freudian, he was okay with it. I had always been curious about his orthodontic tools and anything bloody, so maybe...I don't know maybe it was a questionable parenting choice, but he wasn't exactly a parent, so it's all good."

Meredith furrowed her brows. Cristina could tell she had questions. The two of them hadn't ever talked about Saul much. She continued, "He couldn't replace my dad. I wouldn't let him."

"Ah," Meredith said after a moment as she as she sat up straighter and grabbed Zach's new onesie, "I get it." Meredith unsnapped all the snaps on the outfit and started dressing the baby.

"What is that supposed mean?"

"Well, you tend to have very specific ideas about how things should be and it sounds like that started from a young age."

"I wasn't just being stubborn!"

"I know," Meredith said. She stopped what she was doing and looked Cristina in the eye. "You didn't have anything against him. You were protecting your dad's memory."

Cristina nodded. "I'm sure he understood that." She got up and walked over to the baby's crib and folded one of his blankets. "I really am willing to circumcise Zach. It would make a great story at this 16th birthday party..."

"No," Meredith said, shaking her head. "But, thank you."

Cristina walked over to a table in where several congratulatory cards were displayed and started putting them into a stack.

"Now, you've got to talk to me for real," Meredith said, "because I'm getting ready to leave to go hide in the woods with my offspring, and I don't know how much time I'll have to talk while I'm there."

Cristina neatened the stack of cards and laid it on the table, then headed back to the chair. "Okay," she said. "What do you want to talk about?" Meredith gave her a withering look. Cristina sighed. "I don't- I don't know what-," she dropped her eyes to her own hands. "You have more important things to worry about. For example, that outfit is way too big on him!"

Meredith chuckled. Zachary was practically swimming in his new garment. "Well, it's newborn sized, so what can you do?" She wrapped him tightly in a blanket and cradled him in her arms.

"You're getting good at that," Cristina said with a smile.

"You're good at changing the subject," she smiled back. "You are an important thing to me and I can't help worrying about you, because I want you to be happy."

"I am happy!" Cristina said too cheerfully. "I'll be even happier this afternoon at 1 when I start the porcine valve replacement I have scheduled! Porcine valve replacements are my favorite," she said wistfully.

Meredith shook her head sadly. "You'll be happy in the OR for 4 hours-"

"3 and a half!"

"Fine, 3 and a half hours, then you'll scrub out and I won't be here to distract you from the fact that you're not all that happy." Cristina just rolled her eyes, so Meredith continued. "I know it hurts that he didn't come after you when you broke up him-"

"No, it doesn't. I made the right de-"

"-and I know that it hurts that he has been avoiding you, but-"

"I made the right decision and I think he knows that!" Cristina nearly shouted. Zachary squirmed in Meredith's arms, then yawned. Meredith smiled down at him then scowled up at Cristina.

"Talk to him." Meredith said. "Based on what you told me, the two of you have more you need to say to each other. I'm not saying it's going to be easy."

"I'm giving him space. I'm trying to do the right thing."

"I know. I know that." Meredith got up and placed Zachary in his bassinette, then slowly eased herself back onto the bed. "Remember a few weeks back when I asked you if you would take Zola and Fetus- I mean, Zach, if anything ever happened to Derek and I?"

"Yes," Cristina sighed.

"You said 'yes' at first, right away, with no hesitation." Cristina shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "You don't want kids, but you know and love Zola already, and the thought of her in trouble-"

"No, no, no, it's not the same with Owen. I mean, yes, he and the kid got along really well, and he tried to tell me that it was just about Ethan and not kids in general, but I know it's not true. I mean, maybe it was partly true, but he wants kids, I'm sure of it."

"Well, I think you should talk to him, anyway, now that he's had a few days to process everything."

"We'll see."

Meredith frowned. "Do you want him back?"

"Not if it's going to make him unhappy. Not if he's not going to be satisfied with how his life turns out."

Just then Derek walked in the room with Zola holding one hand and Zach's carrier in the other. "Ok, let's get this show on the road!" he said with a grin.

By one o'clock, Meredith was long gone. As Cristina stood over her patient, she took a deep breath and released it slowly, allowing all the tension that had built up in her after the conversation with Meredith to melt away. She stuck out her hand and said, "Scalpel."

She really did love porcine valve replacements. It had been the first cardio surgery she had done on her own. She remembered that day that seemed a million years ago, now. That daffy patient of hers couldn't decide what kind of valve she wanted. Cristina had finally forced her to decide without thinking. Just to blurt out her first thought, her gut reaction. Pig or cow. That day, somebody had brought up the notion that forcing a split second decision was the way to find out what you really wanted and damned if it hadn't worked on her patient.

That doesn't mean it was always reliable, she thought. Meredith had blindsided her when she asked her to be her kids' guardian if she and Derek died and honestly, she never should have asked. She of all people should have known better. Cristina shook her head.

"Is something wrong, Doctor?" One of the nurses asked with concern in her eyes.

"No, everything is perfectly fine." Cristina turned her focus back to the surgery. Her mind may have wandered, but her work hadn't suffered. She knew all the steps and she hadn't missed a beat.

Before she knew it, the surgery was over. She had completed it in 3 hours and 18 minutes. Not a new record, but among her fastest. About a minute after she started scrubbing out, Intern Leah stuck her head in the door. "Chief Hunt said to look for him when you are done with your surgery." She started to leave until Cristina called out to her.

"Hey! Any idea where I'll find him?"

"3rd floor, east conference room."